Saturday, 16 November 2013

Today while reading some articles I come across a photo of what looks like a Yorkshire Terrier with a princess, or rather I should tell a princess with a Yorkie ;-)
hah Who is the Princess in the pictures?
The Princess Louise
born Louise Caroline Alberta, also known as Marchioness of Lorne and Duchess of Argyll by marriage; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.
Yorkies were good companions for Royalty as we can see in the pictures :-) But how did the get there?
Daily Puppy

Originally developed in the north of England in the late 19th century for the purpose of killing rats in the coal pits and cotton mills, the Yorkie caught the eye of the wealthy ladies of Yorkshire shortly thereafter, and it was love at first sight.

I think this Yorkie in the old photos looks great:-)
Maybe this is Pippi's ancestor:-)

Today Pippi's coat looks smooth and soft. However, I am very much wooried about the mats. I have already started detangling them, and I hope that one week is enough to get rid of them.
I cannot detangle them all on the same day. First, it is tiresome, second, my dog gets annoyed and fights back with teeth.

My dog enjoys to cover herself under a blanket with her head on a pillow, like in the photos below. Sometimes she is a bit lazy, and while she likes to move a lot, sometimes she prefers to stay like this at home, instead of going out.
Are Yorkies couch potatoes?
Top Ten Couch-Potato Dogs

Although most toy breeds are lively and upbeat, and run rather than walk, they all snuggle in quickly when it's couch or bed time. Perhaps the most popular toy breed is the Yorkshire terrier. Small enough that a whole pack doesn't take up much space, there's nothing quite like cuddling up on the couch with these sweet, little critters.
(...) They are spirited, playful and inquisitive, but when they get down to the business of lounging, the Yorkie is among the most accomplished of the couch potatoes, and a superb choice for stay-at-homes and adults with less-active lifestyles.

Yes, I definitely agree with this quote! My Yorkie is just like this! Just look at the pics!!

Friday, 15 November 2013

Hi, to my horror yesterday I discovered that my dog has a lot of mats!! I was very surprised to see this as I really wash her and comb her regularly, I guess it is a lesson learned - when combing her with a brush I did not pay enough attention to comb from the skin (roots) to the outward direction. Her mats are just very close to the skin. Yesterday I have started a very tiresome and arduous task of detangling the mats. I think it will take a lot of time, and I am sure that her autumn dog clothes contributed to the state of her hair, material pressing the coat contributes to mats!
And what are other reasons for mats to appear?
The Daily Puppy:

Mats are caused by the tangling of fur and it happens for several reasons. When the dog sheds, the dead, shedding fur can become tangled in the live coat. If your itchy dog scratches herself often or bites at hot spots, the fur becomes wet, dirty and tangled. Tangling occurs when long-haired dogs are not brushed on a regular basis, much like a human's long hair would tangle after a few days of no combing or brushing. A mat begins as a small problem, but quickly grows into a much bigger problem if not addressed.

Mats, are not only a cosmetic issue, but they also pose a threat to your dog's health:

Mats not only make your dog look like a ragamuffin, but they present some very real health dangers. The skin under the mats gets caught up in the fur as the tangle becomes more severe, causing the dog agony. The flesh becomes irritated and inflamed, causing foul-smelling ulcers and pus. The circulation is cut off, causing the skin to become necrotic. Insects lay eggs under the mat because the warm, moist and dirty conditions create a perfect nest. Mats are excruciatingly painful and serious -- so serious that in some states, such as Florida, allowing a dog to become severely matted is punishable as a misdemeanor under the animal cruelty statute.

How to deal with them? Definitely, use of scissors is not recommended.

It's tempting to just take a pair of scissors and cut the mat off, but that's not the best course of action. If you are unable to shave the mat yourself, you will have to pay a groomer or veterinarian to do it for you. Mats must be shaved or combed out, never cut with scissors because the risk of cutting the skin is very high when you can't tell where the skin ends and the mat begins. There are de-matting tools you can use if the mat is not too big. Preventing mats is simple. It's so much easier to run a grooming brush through your dog's coat every day than it is to deal with matting. Your dog may hate being brushed, but he'll hate mats much more.

I have began combing the out, using my fingers and oil, I am sure it will take some time, but I want to save her hair, as I dreamt about long coat :-)
below I post a link to a detangling, dematting tool:
click here to go to amazon.com
I don't have it yet, maybe it would help me??
Now I try on my own.
However, even if I will not succeed this is a lesson for me and now I know better how to take care of my dogs coat :-)

Sunday, 10 November 2013

In one of my previous posts I wrote about how to knit a sweater for a dog. Below are some photos of my work, in fact I do a scarf now in order to practice knitting a bit and later I intend to do a dog's sweater:
www.redheart.com

If you have a small child or small children and you have already decided to get a Yorkie you should teach them how they should interact with this dog. Yorkies, even though they are small and cute, are not good "toys" for your offsprings.
This is because of their temperamentDaily Puppy:

Yorkies don't have the sweetest temperaments, made evident when they feel threatened. Besides defensive nipping when scared, a Yorkie might even start offensive nipping when rambunctious kids approach. Yorkies are terriers, which means their frou-frou appearance belies a tough little dog. They aren't afraid to take on bigger dogs when out for walks or at the dog park, and annoying kids can fall into that same category.

(if) you have small children. Kids who haven't yet learned to be gentle with animals or who like rough-housing with the family pet are also problematic. Yorkies love chasing games, but rough-and-tumble play is out.

Still, you can teach your kids how to handle with Yorkshire Terrier breed, and train your dog not to be aggressiv. Of course, temperament of your dog cannot be changed, but as Yorkies are also very lively and sociable they can make a great companions for children, who are more delicate with them. Since, it is hard to teach small children to be delicate, Yorkies get along with older children much better!

While Yorkies aren't suitable for families with young children, older kids are another story. Once children are old enough to understand how to approach and handle a small dog, they can bond with a Yorkie. Since Yorkies are often quite playful, they can make good companions for older kids who know better than to roughhouse with a tiny canine. Yorkies require extensive grooming, which offers one way for kids to learn to care for these dogs.

To sum up, if you have a small child either consider teachig your child to treat your Yorkie properly, or decide for another breed (or optionally wait until your child is older - 10 years old).

This is how my dog looks like after a bath:-) She doesn't like to be washed and later she is always a bit apathetic.
However, later she looks really good with her coat fresh and clean. It is only necessary to brush her a bit and she looks great !

Saturday, 9 November 2013

I hoped for a good and sunny weather, but it is a bit cloudy and cold today. It doesn't matter if the weather is good or bad, it is important to walk your dog regularly! In this way you can, for example, prevent obesity:-) and maintain a slim figure!
Why walking your dog is great exercise?

Is dog walking really effective exercise? Many people are become interested in exercise to help lose excess weight. Obesity is a global epidemic, affecting about one in every three to four adults in the United States and Europe. Dog ownership and obesity were evaluated in Seattle, Wash., and Baltimore, Md., in a study published in the journal Preventive Medicine in September 2008. Dog owners who reported walking their dogs were almost 25 percent less likely to be obese than people without dogs. Researchers in the April 2008 issue of Health Promotion Journal of Australia reported that having a dog in the house reduced the risk of childhood obesity by half!

My dog really prefers real meat to dog food, which can be bought easily and is ready to serve.
I am curious about your dogs. After reading about dog food industry I am even more convinced about feeding my dog with cooked food.
Below I post a photo of popular dog food producer's dry food.. However, my dog doesn't like it and eats it only if there is no other alternative present. She also does not eat a lot of it. I think her instinct tells her not to eat this, as I read about somne facts concerning dry dog food I can easily understand my pet's behaviour!
Recently I have started to read labels carefully and reaseacrh information about ingredientst dog food contain. The list is quite long, for example:

food preservatives aren’t all the same. They can be classified as either natural — or artificial.
Natural preservatives are usually made from anti-oxidants — like vitamins C or E. You’ll see them printed on a dog food ingredients list using some form of the word “tocopherol” or “ascorbate”.
These items typically look like this…
“…chicken fat preserved with alpha-tocopherol”
Natural preservatives are typically considered safe.
Banned from Cat Food
but OK for Dogs?
However, artificial preservatives are another story. Used long term, they can add a notable risk of toxicity to any dog food.
For example, take the moisture preservative, propylene glycol. You may recognize propylene glycol by its more infamous use in certain types of non-automotive anti-freeze.
Now, to be fair, this chemical is considered far less toxic than its more dangerous cousin, ethylene glycol.
However, due to its proven risk of blood toxicity, propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in cat food.
Yet it’s still used to preservative dog food.
Dog Food Preservative
or Toxic Pesticide?
Ethoxyquin is another artificial preservative to watch for on a label.
That’s because ethoxyquin is not only used as a preservative but also as a pesticide — and as a hardening agent for making synthetic rubber.
Ethoxyquin has been under investigation by the FDA as a possible cause for certain liver and blood problems.
Yet to this day, it’s still commonly found in many popular brands of dog food.
Two More Dubious Preservatives
Here are two more chemical bad guys to watch out for…
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
The World Health Organization openly names both BHT and BHA as suspicious cancer-causing compounds. Plus the State of California has now identified BHA as a possible carcinogen, too.
Considering these troubling issues, you’d think these two dubious preservatives would be intentionally shunned by the pet food industry.
Unfortunately, both BHA and BHT can still be found in a number of commercial dog foods.
The Bottom Line
Dogs are a captive audience. They have no choice but to eat what we put in front of them. The same food — consumed day after day. Week after week. Year after year.
It’s that cumulative exposure that keeps us up at mights. That additive effect of using any artificial preservative relentlessly — especially when it’s suspected of causing cancer.
So, avoid dog foods made with artificial preservatives.
Here’s a list of some of the more common chemical additives…
Propylene glycol
Ethoxyquin
BHA
BHT
TBHQ
Propyl gallate
Who knows? Avoiding these dangerous dog food preservatives may just add years of good health to your pet’s life.

On this website Petfoodindustry.com there is really much information about dog food.
I will explore this website further, cause I would like to have some knowledge on dog food.
As reagarding Myths About Corn Promoted
by the Pet Food Industry, myths concerning corn in dog food (which seems to be the main ingredient of dog food apart from meat):

Makers and sellers of corn-based foods insist the negative stories about corn are simply unsubstantiated myths and rumors spread around the Internet by simple-minded consumers.
The truth is, the pet food industry itself is guilty of disseminating its own self-serving and myth-based distortions, too.
In fact, most of the exaggerated claims extolling the virtues of corn actually originate within the pet food industry and are unwittingly propagated by naive and well-meaning pet owners.

When you study a dog’s natural ancestral history, you won’t find any mention of corn. That is, until the year 1956. For that was the year indelibly marked by the invention of kibble.
So, why did the introduction of kibble bring with it such a dramatic rise in the use of corn in making dog food? What suddenly made carbohydrates (like corn, grains and potatoes) so popular with the pet food industry?
The truth is…
Carbohydrates are cheap
Carbohydrates are vital to the kibbling process
You won’t find corn in commercial dog food because it contributes some unique nutritional property. No, it’s there simply because it supplies cheap calories to the product.
And starchy carbohydrates play a critical role in a process known as gelatinization — a process which is absolutely crucial to the workings of kibble machinery.
As proof, how often do you find corn in a raw or canned dog food?

All in all, salt, preservatives, corn - compared to most other ingredients used in making dog food, corn does not have a low glycemic index, corn is not easily digestible, aside from its energy content, corn’s nutritional completeness is certainly not exceptional, and a long list of ingredients I do not know, for what they really stand - it all makes me think dry dog food is not a good choice! What is your opinion??

With a small dog it is probable that some people will noy see it and stamp on your pet undeliberately. If you need some tips on how to get about with your Yorkie check out this article, which has many useful tips! Below I post a quote:-)
Yes, and tomorrow is Saturday!! Yay! I will take some new photos for sure and share them with you! I hope for good weather!

Always keep one eye open for potential hazards or problems. Ask other dog owners if their dogs are good with small dogs before you approach. Don't let them just barrel up to you, either. Insist that children ask permission before they run up to pet your dog. If you decide they can pet your Yorkie, instruct them to crouch down and gently extend their hand for your dog to sniff, then to scratch the chest or under the chin rather than patting on top of the head. Don't hesitate to tell them to stop if you think they're being too rough or you see that your Yorkie isn't enjoying it.

Saturday, 2 November 2013

Two days ago I got a muzzle in a pet store and below I post some photos of it. I thought my dog will be very upset to be muzzled but she doesn't really mind:-) It is very light and its size is just perfect! I don't plan to use it a lot, but if you have a dog you should have a muzzle as well.